Shame on Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the members of his Landmarks Preservation Commission for voting 9-0 to allow the building of a Muslim mosque at ground zero in New York City.

Too many Americans are sleepwalking when it comes to understanding Islamic policies during the last 1,400 years of what I see as its brutal history. No one talks about St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which was crushed by the collapsing Twin Towers.

Why is the mosque put on the fast track to construction when St. Nicholas’ reconstruction is being hindered by New York City bureaucracy?

Wake up, America, before it is too late. The Greek Orthodox faithful of the Balkans were enslaved by Islam for 500 years. Ask me what it means to live under the laws of Islam, under Sharia Law and the Hadith. Call me and I will provide a history lesson on what can be like to live under Islam extremists.

Fr. Constantine J. Simones Waterford

About the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church:

Since 1922, St. Nicholas Church had stood as a quiet sanctuary of prayer and reflection amidst the tumultuous and bustling crossroads of commerce. For the past nine years the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey has used bureaucratic obstacles and false promises to hinder the rebuilding of the St. Nicholas Church.

City officials, eager to deflect the criticism of a righteously outraged public, claim that nothing can be done [to stop the mosque from being built on hallowed ground]… something that anyone who has contended with zoning boards across the country knows to be untrue.

Ask the congregation of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church of New York City.

Many thanks to patriot Chris Wysocki at Wyblog for a heads up on the Ground Zero Church. You’ll want to read his report on moderate Muslims in New York (and watch the video) here.

I may be wrong about this… but a little investigation seems to indicate that “Fr. Constantine J. Simones Waterford, courageous pastor of St. Nicholas Church” may not actually exist. The only reference to him that I can find is the same text posted in the blog that started this thread. In fact the only places he shows up is in blogs… each of which contain the same text. It may turn out that the text, and the fictitional Fr. Constantine, was simply fabricated in order to incite unrest.

The web site for St. Nicholas Church NYC says this:
“Our priest, Father John Romas, has been temporarily assigned to St. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral at 64 Schemerhorn Street in Brooklyn. St. Constantine and Helen’s Congregation have also warmly welcomed the Congregation of St. Nicholas as we work to rebuild our Church.”

Another story from NYTimes indicates that the major problem the rebuild project has faced is one of acquiring land; enough land to build a new church six times the size of the original for the 70 families that comprise the parish membership. While the church has retained the original 1200 square foot lot that the original four story church stood on, it is apparently not big enough for the new church they want to build.

My bad. This is what happens when a writer doesn’t go back to original sources but relies on other people’s reporting. After further investigation on my part, I have concluded that the Greek Orthodox cleric in question does indeed exist but that his name and actual location have gotten garbled somewhere along the line during reprints. (More in next comment.)

The delay in rebuilding the Church does not seem to result from any bad faith or “land grabbing” on the part of the Church. Originally, the Church was assured by then NY Governor Pataki that they could rebuild on the original location. However, the Port Authority wanted the Church’s land and offered the Church a land swap, which the Church accepted. But the Port Authority has never concluded the deal (more).

I bet you could not build this church in Tehran ! I’m not from N.Y. city,so it really is non of my business,
but building a mosque at Ground Zero is spitting in our faces,there are plenty around the corner…….If all of this is untrue then I agree with “Investigator “.

There is a retired Greek Orthodox priest with the name of Fr. Constantine Simones.
In 2006, and maybe today for all I know, he lived in Waterford, CT.
He has been involved in Justice for Cyprus. Cyprus, as you will remember, is currently 37% occupied by Muslims in the form of the Turkish army.
A link which I think satisfactorily proves he exists: http://news.pseka.net/index.php?module=sponsor

I hope you don’t mind, but I have posted this post in it’s entirety over at Crosshairball. I did link back to here and attributed the post to Quite Rightly. I wanted to contact you first to ask permission but can’t find an email link. I figured this would be ok because of the cross posting part at the bottom of the post.

Ignatz – Respectfully, I think you should check out the aerial views, widely available on the Web, including here. The actual distance from Ground Zero rubble to the mosque site is less than 600 feet, about 200 steps. Pace it off. In fact, a piece of the first airliner to hit the WTC plunged through the roof and top floor of the Burlington Coat Factory. How far away from Ground Zero is that?

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Free exercise of religion. One of OUR founding principles. I am suprised no one has brought this up yet. You CANNOT argue about freedom of religion and just mean Christianity. If the founders had meant freedom of Christianity, they would have said “Freedom of Christianity” and not free exercise of “RELIGION”.

Yes, the bombing of the Twin Towers was horrific, but so are many other acts of violence toward any PERSON. Pardon me for my sarcasm, but I find it hypocritical to label all Muslims under the ‘extremist’ label, when there are numerous ‘extremist’s of EVERY RELIGION.

Oh yeah, lets not forget that Judaism, Christianity, AND Islam all worship the SAME GOD. “Oooohhh, no, those MUSLIMS want to build a place to WORSHIP GOD, GOD FORBID!!!” Phht, personally, I dont think God cares how He gets worshiped, as long as people believe in Him, and try to follow the Ten Commandments.

“In keeping with the archbishop’s vision, Mr. Koutsomitis planned for a roughly 24,000-square-foot marble church and adjoining spiritual center at an estimated cost of up to $40 million. But church leaders say they have raised only $4 million. JPMorgan Chase has agreed to give $10 million toward the rebuilding of St. Nicholas, as part of the bank’s tentative deal to build an office tower on the site of the Deutsche Bank building. ”

I wonder why you’re having trouble getting going.

“The church wants the authority to provide roughly $55 million toward the estimated $75 million cost of rebuilding St. Nicholas.”

Wow.

Also, lets not even begin to get into the sheer amount of ignorance and bigotry it takes to even oppose this. Suppose the trade center was destroyed by a group of lunatic pro-lifers (no attempt at disrespect is intended here by the way) and people were protesting the rebuilding of this very church? How would you feel if the actions of others skewed their opinion on not only you but your faith? Do you really think there were no Muslims in the building that day? Do you really feel as though Islam-practicing American-born citizens didn’t feel exactly as you did on 9/11?

@ That Guy: Perhaps you missed the part of the article that pointed out that the Port Authority would require the church to install a $35-million blast-proof concrete slab beneath its building to protect it from a possible explosion on the screening center ramps. That $35 million is a Port Authority estimate, by the way, which means, of course, that the actual cost will be much more.

On September 11, 2001 the barbaric attack not only destroyed the majestic Twin Towers but also the tiny yet historic St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, located south of the second tower of the World Trade Center. In the aftermath of its destruction, very little survived: two icons, one of St. Dionysios of Zakynthos and the other of the Zoodochos Pege, along with a few liturgical items, a book, and some candles.

Within days, the Archbishop traveled personally to Ground Zero, setting foot on the site where the Church of St. Nicholas stood, in order to conduct a memorial service for the victims of those who perished in the attacks and to offer prayers for the families in mourning.

On the Feast Day of St. Nicholas, December 6, the Archbishop, joined by His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos and area clergy, celebrated a somber Vespers and memorial service near where the Church once stood. Six months after the attacks, His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew also journeyed to this sacred site and presided at a memorial service with family members of the victims.

Though small in stature, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was a place of ministry and worship both for her parishioners and also for local residents and workers in the Financial District of Manhattan who would pass by and often enter the Church. Following its collapse, the legacy of this tiny Church continues to dramatically impact peoples’ lives, and donations of almost $2 million have been received, as well as additional pledges of construction materials and appointments for the complete rebuilding of the Church. The city of Bari, Italy, where the relics of St. Nicholas were originally bestowed, has donated $250,000. The government of Greece has contributed $750,000 to these efforts, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate has given $50,000. The Governor of the State of New York, George Pataki, met with the Archbishop and pledged his support for including a new St. Nicholas in the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site.

The task of rebuilding the Church of St. Nicholas involves careful coordination, planning and vision. To this end, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios has appointed a committee to oversee the rebuilding project. In accomplishing their objectives, the committee has met with the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation so that the task of rebuilding St. Nicholas may be properly incorporated into the concept plans for the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site located at Ground Zero. These concept plans, which are the product of an inclusive process, envision the rebuilding of the historic Church of St. Nicholas as a functioning parish, ministering once again to the needs of her faithful. His Eminence, however, also sees the rebuilding of St. Nicholas as a matter of spiritual destiny, so that the millions of people who will visit the historic site of Ground Zero may find marking the place of a national tragedy, a sanctuary of solace and prayer, a concrete and visible testimony of renewed faith and hope.

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Just another point. This church has been there since 1922.

Why is Mayor Bloomberg eager to build a mosque at Ground Zero but the only church destroyed on 9/11 he is against? This church was build back in 1922 and stood proudly for over 79 years without one incident. Yet, the Muslims who hijacked our planes and successfully murdered 3,000 of our citizens are allowed to build a mosque! Mayor Bloomberg says it freedom of religion but he is against a church being built on the site it was before the terrorists attack. What happened to diversity Mr. Bloomberg? Why do you hate Christians and not Muslims? When did a Greek Orthodox Christian ever destroyed anything in America? The faithful have raised money to rebuild our church. The people of Bari Italy donated money to rebuild our church. Why? Does it make sense? No. Today is the eve of St. Nicholas. Our church member will hold a mass at the site. Let’s see how many media attention this will get. Let’s see if Mayor Bloomberg shows his face.

Lets pray the Church will be built and we hold a Mass in the new church next year the 10th anniversary of the day it was destroyed. If not it’s another victory for Turkey and AlQueda destroying churches and getting away with it. Remember Hagia Sophia in Constantinople and Apostolos Andreas in Cyprus.

Many others also feel the terrible injustice of so much support and attention going to the Ground Zero mosque when your beautiful Church, the St. Nicholas clergy and parishioners, and all the people of the neighborhood who visited that Church, are being all but completely ignored.

I posted an announcement about the St. Nicholas vespers service (held, I note with sorrow, in a tent) at Bread upon the Waters.